Since the introduction to service in the 1980s of the Walrus-class diesel-electric submarines with the Royal Netherlands Navy, such vessels have become synonymous with silent operation and success in anti-submarine warfare. Designed as an end-mission platform for Cold War operations against Russian submarines, they have exceeded expectations in a wide variety of other applications that include intelligence gathering and anti-piracy missions.
In addition to these pioneering achievements, the 20th century saw many unique contributions of the Royal Netherlands Navy to military submarine design snorkel, in particular, for instance. In World War II, Dutch submarines operating in the Far East sank more Japanese vessels than the Americans. This convention of quality continued throughout the Cold War with the advent of the Walrus-class submarines.
The Walrus-class submarines have been used in multiple overseas military exercises and highly secret intelligence-gathering missions. The submarines were even used in anti-piracy missions on the coast of Somalia. While the lead boat HNLMS Walrus (S802) had a fire during construction, this class’s first into service was the HNLMS Zeeleeuw (S803), creating confusion about the name of the class.
The Walrus-class boats also feature some significant advancements over the preceding Zwaardvis-class boats in terms of internal appointments, including more powerful machinery. The three diesel generators have SEMT-Pielstick PA4V200 12-cylinder engines that produce 4,700 kW (6,300 hp), while one electric motor supplies 5,150 kW (6,910 hp) to a single shaft. On the surface, the submarines have a top speed of 13 knots; submerged, they have a maximum speed of 9 knots.
Displacing 2,490 tonnes (2,450 tons), each of the Walrus-class submarines is 222 feet (67.5 meters) long, has a beam of 27 feet, seven inches (8.4 meters), and a draught of 21 feet, eight inches (6.6 meters). The hull configuration is double-deck with a “teardrop” form. The hull is built of high-tensile steel with a minimum number of apertures and welded joints.
Unlike other submarine classes, the Walrus class has dive planes and rudders mounted in an “X” configuration rather than a vertical horizontal cross. This “X-form” after-plane configuration requires a sophisticated computerized control system.
Each Walrus class submarine has four 21-inch (533mm) torpedo tubes capable of carrying up to twenty torpedoes or forty mines, as well as the UGM-84 Harpoon surface-to-surface missile. These have become some of the most known sub-super silent subs which explains why they are in much demand by NATO.
During the multi-national “Joint Task Force Exercise/Theatre Missile Defence Initiative 1999” (JTFEX/TMDI99), the HNLMS Walrus, penetrated the U.S. Navy screen, “sank” several ships including the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71), before escaping.
When the Dutch Ministry of Defense unveiled plans to design a new class of submarines in November 2014 to replace aging Walrus-class vessels, the Dutch parliament announced just this past month in April 2022 that at least two of those aged Walrus-class boats will have to remain in service until at least the mid-2030s.
A breakthrough: the Netherlands has opted to retire its old Cold War-era Walrus-class submarines and arm themselves with four conventional submarines from France. In a deal announced today by Dutch State Secretary for Defence Christophe van der Maat, the submarines were awarded through a “careful tender process” tendered by the Dutch Ministry of Defence. Called HNLMS Orka (Orca), Zwaardvis (Swordfish), Barracuda, and Tijgerhaai (Tiger Shark), these conventional attack submarines will be based on the Black Sword design by Naval Group, a conventionally powered version of its Barracuda family.
Van der Maat describes the offer by Naval Group as “balanced, versatile and realistic,” with a solid role for the Dutch industry both in construction and maintenance.
This time around, the new submarines will be equipped with advanced battery technology, meaning they can stay underwater for much longer periods without surfacing for the reconversion of the batteries using diesel engines. They become still less noisy and even less vulnerable to the enemy’s radar,
The new submarines will be equipped with long-range cruise missiles, a factor that will significantly enhance the strike capabilities of the Royal Netherlands Navy.
The news report indicates that it was announced that the new submarines were to be equipped with RGM/UGM-109 Tomahawk, which will also be deployed on existing De Zeven Provinciën class frigates. This is part of efforts to improve the long-range conventional strike capability in the Netherlands following the shift in the European security environment.
The procurement of the four new submarines is not merely a technological modernization of the underwater fleet of the Netherlands but, far more subtly yet profoundly for national security, part of the country’s broader response to the new impulses inducing Russia to rethink its foreign policy orientation.